[Adam]

I guess i totally lost that showing off contest :p
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https://numbatlogic.com

[Hajo]

[Mattias Gustavsson]

[Hajo]

Thanks for the good wishes. Having another examination tomorrow which makes me quite nervous.

Poser is a great tool. With my former RPG project I really wished for having Poser, but I couldn't afford it. Now I could afford it, maybe I should just do that and have something nice to play with for the next weeks.

In a last, already a bit desperate step, I decided to go all low on the graphics and try very simple line art graphics. The thread below has two screenshots linked, and a long reasoning for my decision.

http://www.simugraph.com/feedback_forum/viewtopic.php?t=18

I'm not sure if people will accept that level of graphics, but at least it allows to focus much more on the content. It's currently my last hope, if I cannot complete a dungeon crawl on this level, I must give in, I think.

[RampantCoyote]

You know, even if the line art doesn't cut it for a commercial release or something, it's great while its in development. And I think it helps call attention to the "important parts" of the game --- too often eye-candy is used to hide the fact the underlying game mechanics are crap.

And look at how successful Kingdom of Loathing has gotten with stick-figure-art!
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[RedSlash]

Poser is an awesome tool the last time I remember trying it out! There's quite a wide selection of pre-built models available. Unfortunately, they don't fit well into my own cartoony jrpg styled game. Besides, I like my graphics to be 100% original.

[Mattias Gustavsson]

[RedSlash]

That's why I said "experts" in the field. By experts, I do mean good at what they do. So a bad designer will still produce badly designed games. Although you do bring up a very good point about working with artists/programmers that think game should be run their own way. This stresses the importance of teamwork in any environment. It can be difficult to find good people to work for you. By any means, I'm not suggesting that solo developers can't produce good games. In fact, some of the best games I've played are from solo developers (much better than those 3D games we see today). While some of these games had horrific graphics, I think they could've been better improved visually if they found a good artist that they could work well with. I mean, if you have a great game with bad art, I don't see the drawback for having a great game with great art. Now you see, nothing I say applies if your a hobbiest developer. As a hobbiest, I think you should just try your best to achieve your goal.

[RampantCoyote]

/agree Mattias.

Additionally, if you go too far in this compartmentalization of knowledge and skill, you end up with a lack of communication, a feeling of many issues being "someone else's problem," and a lack of a feeling of investment and ownership of the game on the part of all team members.

That's the opposite of what you really want. You want ALL of the team members invested and treating the game as if it was their own baby.

Yeah, you need to defer to the guys responsible --- programmers can make suggestions for the art and design, but ultimately someone else must make the final call. That much I'll agree with. But I'm very much in favor of cross-discipline discussions, communication, and knowledge wherever possible. Especially for the designers, who need to be able to talk to artists without saying things like "It needs to be more green," or programmers without saying, "It needs to be tighter."
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz